“Yep, it’s a blob,” Heidi says with a laugh. “I have three of my own, and they all started just like this. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I’m going to step out on the deck and call him really quick. I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Violet says with a smile. “We’re in no rush.”
I nod and dial Eli’s number as I step out into the summer sunshine.
“Hello, Aunt Charly,” he says.
“Hi, Daddy,” I reply with a giggle. “Congratulations, Eli.”
“Thanks. We had a bit of a scare, but everything’s okay.”
“Van told me. I’m so happy that Kate’s okay and that we’re going to have a new bebe to love on soon.”
“How are things there?” he asks, his voice serious again. “Are you learning anything valuable?”
“I’m learning all kinds of things,” I reply. “And you sound like Dad.”
“Well, that’s good because I’m about to be one,” he says. “Holy shit, Char, I’m gonna be a papa.”
“You’re going to be an amazing father, Eli. You’re a wonderful man. This baby is lucky.”
“Okay, let’s not get too touchy feely here.”
I roll my eyes.
“You’re okay?”
“I’m okay,” I reply, meaning it. “I’m enjoying it more than I ever thought I would, but don’t tell Van. I’m going to let her think that she made me come against my will for a while longer.”
“Women are mean.”
“You beat your brothers up every day at lunch.”
“That’s called martial arts, and a workout,” he replies easily. “Not the same.”
“Whatever. Kiss Kate for me. I’ll see you next week.”
“Be safe, darlin’.”
I end the call and look at the ultrasound again, smiling widely. There’s a little baby coming to join our family soon. I can’t wait!
“Is that yours?”
I spin to find Todd standing behind me.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to look over your shoulder, but that’s hard to miss.”
“No, it’s fine,” I say with a laugh. “It’s definitely not mine. It’s my brother’s. His wife is pregnant, and he sent me this to tell me.”
“Excellent,” Todd says, his accent as thick as Simon’s, yet not quite as sexy. “Did you know that the baby is the size of a peanut right now?”
“Did you know tidbits like that during every phase of your wife’s pregnancy?”
“Hey, I did my homework,” he says with a wink. “Congratulations.”
He pats my shoulder and walks away, and I gaze down at the photo one more time.
I love you, little peanut.
***
I’m late. I hate being late.
Despise.
Loathe.
It’s my biggest pet peeve in life.
And here I am, struggling into my shoes as I yank my shirt over my head, no time to blow my hair dry, so it’s in a bun on top of my head, and I have no makeup on.
My alarm didn’t go off this morning, and I overslept. And I never oversleep. What is happening to me?
Just as I’m about to dash out the door to class, my phone rings, and like an idiot, I hit accept rather than ignore.
This is not my day.
“Hello?”
“Hey, beautiful,” Ryan says with a sing-song voice, making me stop in the doorway.
“What’s up, Ryan? I’m in a hurry.” And I don’t ever want to talk to you again.
“I was just thinking about you. I haven’t seen you in a while. Where have you been?”
“Remember when I told you I was going to a retreat for two weeks? These are those two weeks.” I roll my eyes. Ryan rarely paid attention to details that didn’t affect him.
“I didn’t realize you were really going to that,” he says, annoyance heavy in his voice. “I thought we said it was a silly thing to go to.”
“No, you said that.” I check the time. “What do you need, Ryan? I’m late for class.”
“I want to see you,” he says simply.
“You want to fuck me,” I reply.
“Yes.”
“No.” I shake my head and sit on the edge of the bed. Who cares if I’m a couple minutes late?
“No? Are you seeing someone?”
“I don’t have to be seeing someone else to say no to you,” I reply, my voice strong. “But no, I’m not. However, you are.”
“You must be mistaken.”
“Nope. I’m not. I heard your conversation with Pamela, Ryan. You don’t like me, but you like to fuck me. And if I remember correctly, you were going to call me and break it off for good. Which you didn’t do. But let me just save you the trouble.”
“No, there was no reason to call because I broke things off with Pam.” He sounds panicked now. “There’s no reason for us to stop seeing each other, Char.”
“Yeah, there is.” I sigh and shake my head. “You don’t even like me, remember?”
“That wasn’t true, baby.”
God, I’m weak when he calls me baby like that. And he knows it. Bastard.
“Either way, I’m done, Ryan. It’s time for both of us to move on.”
“Let’s talk about this when you get home,” he says soothingly. “Don’t make any rash decisions.”
“Whatever. I’m late. Goodbye.” I hang up, turn my ringer off, and hurry out of my room. I’m not going to let him talk his way back into my pants again. I was okay with the friends with benefits thing, but I’m not okay with the just benefits thing. No way.
I rush into the room, already quiet, and cringe when a few people glance over my way. I hurry to my seat next to Heidi and get settled as quickly as I can.
“Are you okay?” she whispers.
“No alarm,” I whisper back.
“You haven’t missed anything yet,” she says.
Simon isn’t looking at me, which is good. It would only make me more uncomfortable. He’s walking across the stage, talking expressively with his hands. He has a mic attached to his ear, so his hands are free, and I love watching him speak. He’s an excellent public speaker. He’s calm, comfortable.
Sexy as all get out.
“So, we’re going to take a bit of a detour today, ladies. We’ve spent the past eight days talking about self-esteem, goals, how to achieve those goals, networking, etc. Today we’re going to talk about your love lives.”
“It’s about time!” Someone calls out from the audience, making us all smile.
“Some portions of today are going to be fun, and others will be uncomfortable. That’s okay. You can ask me anything, and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.”
Hands are thrown into the air, but Simon holds his own hands up in surrender.
“Hold off on the questions for a bit. First, I’d like to speak a bit about expectation and self-worth.”
For an hour Simon works the stage, reminding us all that we are worth so much more than what we’re willing to settle for. Questions are asked and answered, and I sit here all the while, listening and getting angrier by the minute.
“If you don’t want to be a side piece, or a friend with benefits, don’t settle for that from any man.” Simon is passionate as he repeats what he’s been driving home all day. “If you want a man to be devoted to you, and to love you unconditionally, you have to do that for yourself first.”
For the better part of ten years I’ve been involved with a man who didn’t even like me. He just liked the sex. Because seriously, the sex was great. But now, as I sit here and listen to Simon talk about not settling for less than you deserve, I realize that this is exactly what I’ve been doing all of my adult life.
It’s been my choice. I knew that until I found the one, I was content with casual relationships. But at the same time, it makes me feel cheap. And so fucking mad. At Ryan, at myself, and even at Simon for bringing all of this shit up.
Just before class is over for the day, I gather my things and leave. I
can’t listen to it any more.
“Charly!”
I stop halfway down the hall to the elevators and see Violet hurrying to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Peachy,” I reply. “I need to be done with today.”
“This wasn’t fun for you.” Her eyes are concerned and she pats my shoulder, and that’s all I can take.
“No.” My voice is flat. “It wasn’t fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And with that I turn and rush back to my room. I want to call Ryan and scream at him, tell him that he can go fuck himself from now on, and how dare he treat me like something he can just throw away? He doesn’t have to love me. I don’t love him either.
But damn it, he sure as hell should have respected me.
I sit on my balcony for a while, silently fuming while I watch birds swoop through the air, a flock of ducks swim across the lake, and the sun hide behind clouds, then poke back out again.
How did I not see it? Am I too easy to trust? Or was I just blind, and assumed that he felt the same way that I did? Maybe I didn’t read between the lines during the times apart. My arrangement with Ryan worked for me because I’d consumed myself with work and family for so long, I wasn’t ready for anything more serious than friends with benefits. But I should have asked more questions. I should have paid more attention.
And maybe I’m being a little hard on myself and Ryan is just an asshole.
After a while, there’s a knock on my door, and I know exactly who it is. He couldn’t have come after me with a hundred women looking on, and I wouldn’t expect him to.
Hell, I don’t expect him to come after me at all.
Because as he’s said over and over, this is just professional, and I already know that he’s not the one for me, and the chemistry is just science.
Science is a bitch.
I stay where I am, rocking in my chair, even when he knocks again, and then for a third time.
“Charly! Open up.”
And just with those three words, I’m all pissed off again. So I march to the door and swing it open, glaring at him.
“You don’t have the right to be demanding with me.”
“You don’t have the right to lock me out,” he counters.
“Fuck yes, I do.” I stand on my tiptoes and stick my finger in his face. “You’re not my boyfriend. You’re not even my friend. You’re a man that I know, that’s it.”
“That’s not it,” he says, beginning to breathe hard.
“Just because you give a fuck, doesn’t mean that I owe you anything. Didn’t you just lecture a whole room full of women about just that?”
He pushes his fingers through his hair and paces away, then turns back to me.
“I just want to—”
“And where do you get off, anyway?” I interrupt, pacing around the room myself. “Your life isn’t all roses. You’re single!”
“Charly—”
“If you know everything about dating, why aren’t you doing it?” He props his hands on his hips and narrows his eyes on me, but I’m on a roll. “Are you one of those do as I say not as I do kind of people, Simon? Because I don’t see you with a ring on your finger.”
“You’re bloody pissing me off.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been bloody pissed all bloody day,” I reply and cross my arms over my chest. “And I don’t even know why you’re here! You keep repeating, like a broken record, that this is strictly professional and you’re not going to touch me, and blah blah blah, which is perfectly fine with me, mind you. But then you go out of your way to be nice to me. Or maybe you treat all of the clients like this.”
“You know better than that.”
“I don’t even think you like me very much.” Just like Ryan.
“What in the hell are you talking about? Of course I like you. I can’t fucking stay away from you!”
“That’s just chemistry,” I reply. “And trust me when I say that I’ve had my fill of that. It doesn’t mean anything other than my junk likes your junk.”
Now his lips twitch, and I can’t decide if I want to kick him or kiss him.
Let’s go with both.
“You haven’t seen my junk, love.”
“And what in the world is up with all of the love talk?”
“It’s a term of endearment. Now you’re just being difficult and stubborn.”
“Well, that’s who I am, Simon. I’m difficult and stubborn, and I’m no one to use terms of endearment on because I mean nothing to you.”
His nostrils flare as he marches toward me, letting the door slam behind him, and the next think I know, I’m in his arms and his lips are on mine. His hand glides up my back to fist in the back of my hair. He tips my head back to more easily assault my mouth, and I’m consumed by him.
Mercy, the man can kiss.
He whirls us around so he can boost me up against the wall, supporting me with his pelvis and the hard cock still confined in his pants.
His very impressive cock.
My hands are everywhere, in his hair, over his shoulders, his back. I want his clothes off, now.
I grip the hem of his shirt and tug up. He leans back long enough for me to lift it over his head and throw it on the floor, and I’m stunned. The tattoo on his left arm covers the ball of his shoulder. I lean in and place a kiss there, where it ends, then bite his neck gently.
“If you’re going to bite, fucking bite,” he growls, and I comply, sucking the skin in my mouth and biting hard.
“Jesus,” he groans and lifts my chin to devour my mouth again. He nibbles the edge of my lip before kissing me deeply. His hands are pressing into my ass firmly, most likely causing bruises on the skin.
I can’t wait to see them later.
“I want you,” he whispers against my ear then licks my earlobe. “I want you right now, and I’m bloody done with denying it.”
“Yes,” I pant, trying to catch my breath. I’m as out of breath as I was when we hiked the mountain, but for an entirely different reason.
He grabs my hands and pins them above my head, grinds his cock against my already wet center, and I’m about come undone from that alone.
I’m not even naked yet!
“Tell me you want it too.”
“I do.” God, I do. The fact that I haven’t been with a man in forever is of no consequence. I want this man. Right now.
His hand dives down my pants and he cups me over my panties.
“Jesus, you’re soaked.”
“This is a little hot,” I reply and think frantically which panties I’m wearing.
“A little?”
“Maybe more than a little.”
“Love, this is about to get a lot hot. If you’re not okay with that, say so now, because I’m about three seconds from being inside of you.”
“Well, get on with it already.”
Chapter Five
~Simon~
God, she makes me crazy. Her smart mouth, her firm body, the way she clenches my hair in her fists while I kiss the hell out of her. All of her.
And I want more.
I lower her to the floor and begin to strip her out of her clothes, not giving a fuck where I throw them. She’s making quick work of mine as well, and when we’re finally naked, I grab the complimentary condom on the wet bar, boost her onto the large bed, and cover her, my cock hard and pulsing. But I don’t push inside her.
Not yet.
“We can’t use that condom,” she says, suddenly grinding everything to a halt.
“What do you mean?” I lift up, staring down at her, panting.
“I’m allergic.”
“You’re allergic?” Jesus, I keep repeating everything she says, but I have a serious lack of blood flow to the brain right now.
“Bad things happen down there when condoms are involved.” She bites her lip. “I have an IUD, and I was with the same man for a long time. I haven’t been with anyone else in months.”
I narrow my eyes and ta
ke a deep breath.
“Trust me,” she says, “this is no psycho trap or anything, I just don’t want to deal with an uncomfortable crotch for the next week.”
I chuckle and cup her face in my hands. The crazy thing is, I do trust her, and I haven’t trusted a woman in a very long time.
“I’m clean,” I say finally. “I’m very selective, and I see the doctor regularly.”
A slow smile spreads over her lips.
“I thought you said you’d be inside me in three seconds.”
“I was mistaken,” I reply as I spread her wide and kiss her core, suck her lips into my mouth, then lick up to her clit and grin in satisfaction when she cries out and arches her back, grips the back of my head, and pulls me tighter against her, grinding herself on my face.
I love that she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to take it.
I can’t stand it anymore. I press wet kisses up her torso, cover her mouth with mine, and slip inside her to the hilt. I want to stop and enjoy the wetness surrounding me, but her hips arch and I can’t resist setting the pace, fast and furious, pumping in and out of her with frustration and pure lust.
She pushes on my shoulders, and I grip her ass and flip us and she begins to ride me like a woman possessed. She’s breathing hard, her cheeks are flushed, and she’s biting her swollen lips. She’s planted her hands on my chest for leverage as she rides me, clenching that pussy around my cock each time she pulls up, and I swear to God my eyes are bloody crossed.
Her tits are small with hard pink nipples just begging for my mouth, so I lift up and suck on one, then bite it and turn my attention to the other.
“Jesus,” she groans, those hands in my hair again. “So good.”
“Mm,” I reply and grip her ass again, guiding her up and down my cock. I’ve never been so damn hard.
“Gonna come,” she says and bites my earlobe. Hard. “Gonna come.”
“Do it,” I urge her and press my thumb to her clit just as she begins to spasm around me. “Go, love.”
“Fucking hell,” she groans and succumbs to her orgasm, clenching onto me with every muscle in her body. Fuck me, she’s magnificent.
Just as she begins to come down, I reverse our positions again, pressing her back into the mattress and start to truly fuck her. Hard. Fast. Until I find my own release and crash to the bed beside her, out of breath and trembling.
Easy Kisses Page 5
